Rabshakeh

I certainly did not mean to suggest that. I was just surprised that I had never come across those musicians, and wondering if there was a reason for it, other than my own ignorance of the scene. I wasn't aware that Sclavis had played with Portal or with Tusques. If they were based down in Lyons that would certainly explain it.

Thanks

Players like Maurice Merle, Louis Sclavis, Christian Rollett and Jean Bolcato don't seem to be on any releases with the crowd mentioned in the third paragraph (Portal, etc.). It just seemed odd to me, as the French scene can't have been that big in the 70s, and the rest of them are fairly open to recording with different line ups. I wondered whether there was some sort of animosity or split there. You get similar splits into cliques in Germany and England, I guess, but even there most musicians have played with each other at least once, and there are generally musicians who fall between the camps.

I've been going through those Souffles over the last couple of days. There's some great stuff in there. There appears to be almost no connection between the musicians that play on those records and what I (probably ignorantly) think of as the more "well known" French players like Tusques, Vitet, Portal or Guerin. There is also a total lack of the usual expat Americans. Does anyone know the reason for this split in the 70s French scene? Did they not get on?

I don't know him at all, but that is sad news. Is there one with which you would start?

I was looking for an excuse to put this one on...

Terrible news.

George Lewis and Douglas Ewart: Jila - Save! Mon. - The Imaginary Suite (Black Saint, December 1979)

Thanks! To tell the truth, the whole French scene (other than as sidemen on BYGs) was pretty unknown to me until recently. Its been fun to suddenly discover a huge untapped area like this.

Following that link it looks like there's been quite a bit of Tusques reissued. I'm a big fan of Free Jazz (the album). What would be the next step?

All the thumbs up for this one.

I can't unsee this. Alphea, by Hannes Weinart and Peter Niklas Wilson. A favourite from a few years back that I haven't listened to in a while. Free but gentle.

Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - s/t, 1966. I think this may have been Ennio Morricone's first record. Some difficult stuff to digest. Duck Baker - Spinning Song: Duck Baker Plays the Music of Herbie Nichols, 1996. A finger picked take on Herbie Nichols that doesn't sound at all bluegrass. It comes across as a mellowed out John Fahey, really. A nice record.

I think that there is a lot of variety there. There aren't many musicians of whom I know whose sound varies so much with their playing partners. For my part, I think the Favre duo is my favourite for the reasons you mention above. As a drummer he is a bit heavier and more aggressive than the others and he pushes Schweitzer into a more Cecil Taylor-type zone, although always tempered with that late Romantic lyricism. Sommer, for example, seems to bring out a more playful side that I enjoyed too but found perhaps a little less convincing.

Thanks. That's an interesting article. Perhaps a little gushing and cozy in its presentation of Bandcamp. I am impressed at how serious the backlash has been to Daniel Ek's tone deaf and rather objectionable presentation at the end of last month. It seems to come just at the wrong time: with Bandcamp rising and the television / film equivalents to Spotify like Netflix finally encountering competition. On the edit, I should add how impressed I have been recently with the increasing depth of offering on Bandcamp. Increasingly all the new music I buy is from the service. There was a thread a few weeks ago when some others mentioned the same.

I love this record.

I've been on a bit of a Schweizer run in the last couple of days. Back in the late 80s / early 90s she did a terrific run of duo albums on Intakt where she paired with many of the great drummers from the European (and in a few cases US) jazz and improv scenes. A couple of them are mentioned in the above thread. It was a good concept and I like these albums a lot: each of them shows a different side of Schweizer's personality, and her ability to read and respond to a partner. The bright cover images give them a sort of penny candy / pick 'n' mix feel, too. In the spirit of making a rainy Wednesday afternoon pass quicker, I wondered if anyone on here has a favourite partnership from among those Intakt duets, and why they like that one particularly?

I always had a soft spot for that Pharoah record. One of the first LPs I bought.

DKV Trio: Wels/ Chicago, by Ken Vandermark, Kent Kessler and Hamid Drake.

That's an incredibly focused shopping list.

Lee Konitz, Live at the Half Note Blue Mitchell, Blue’s Moods Hank Mobley, Al Cohn, John Coltrane and Zoot Sims, Tenor Conclave. Those three helped to make an exhausting 9 hour car trip with a toddler and a newborn that little bit more survivable.

I did something similar: upgraded my stylus to a Nagaoka MP110. If you are at home and listening to music all day, it makes sense.

There's an interesting blog here: https://ecmreviews.com/catalogue/ by a guy who has listened to and reviewed the entire catalogue. That's endurance.

I've been working my way through these recommendations over the weekend (thanks again). One thing that jumps out is how varied Mitchell's sound, composition and ideas remained even in his 60s and 70s (and hopefully will continue to remain in his 80s!). His solos on albums like Solo [3], Conversations and the Otoroku one all have such a different sound and feel. I'd always know that was true for his earlier period - compare Nonaah to Snurdy - but it is impressive to see how he has kept it up, particularly when other greats are putting out records that are basically variations on themes they laid down in the 1970s.

Triple thumbs up.